Inline / Rollerblading Drills for Hockey Players

A big complaint among hockey players in the more remote areas is that there is no place to skate over the summer months. This was certainly a problem for me growing up. I grew up in a small farm town and every arena within 100 kilometers took the ice out from March – September. So what does a die-hard hockey fanatic do when there is no ice?… Rollerblades!

The only problem with rollerblades is the slight difference from ice skates. The movements are not quite the same – the biggest differences being in stopping and turning – and it is possible to develop bad skating habits if you are rollerblading.

Do I recommend rollerblading to hockey players?

Absolutely, especially for the less experienced skaters. Yes you could develop a few bad habits, but if you’re having trouble with skating on ice I believe rollerblading will help you develop a better feel for being on skates.

How rollerblading helps ice hockey players

Improves balance

Improves single leg control and agility

Help players develop a better sense of movement (more confidence on skates)

Can help develop leg power (and better control and balance usually results in more power)

How rollerblading may hurt ice hockey players

Rollerblades don’t have edges like hockey skates do

Rollerblades do not slide during stopping and turning like hockey skates do

It is easy to stand too straight on blades and not get a good full stride, rollerblading for long distances might shorten a hockey players stride

(pictured to the right is my favourite player growing up in rollerblades, although it’s probably one of the cheesiest hockey cards of all time)

Rollerblade drills to help hockey players

Below is a video with 3 skating drills you can do on roller blades that will help you with your skating on the ice.

Covered in this video

Inside edges

You will learn an exercise that will work on your agility, balance, single leg power, and help you become more comfortable on your skates

Transitions from forwards to backwards and backwards to forwards

You will learn the foot work involved in transitions. I teach you how to transition without losing speed

Leg Power

The last exercise will help generate leg power and it is a good workout on and off the ice. I got the last exercise from Jim Vitale from Vital Hockey while helping out at his hockey camp.

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Hi my name is Jeremy Rupke. My goal is to break every hockey skill down into easy to understand articles and videos. I explain everything step-by-step to help others improve. I'm active on Instagram, Facebook and more, you can follow through the links above.
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I’m 18 and would like to start hockey next fall, but my skating skills are miserable, almost non existent
Would you recommend waiting for the opening of arenas to start on real ice and avoid developing some bad habits right from the start or would you say that rollerblades are good enough to start, despite all the differences?

Because here in Switzerland, the arenas open quite late, around the end of October or even November for some, so it’s quite late in the year to start skating…

Thank you for your great videos, they really help me with my stickhandling and shooting !

Get some rollerblades and practice as much as you can. Roller blades can help a lot with balance and muscle memory. You might need to tweak some things once you get on the ice, but doing anything related to hockey is better than doing nothing.

Hey Chris,
Speaking from my experience I think you should use roller blades.I mean you can get bad habits like Jeremy said but they deffenetly help.I used roller blades all the time as a kid.In fact my coach named me captain in my first year because I was a good skater . Trust me it really helps.And I understand that the rinks open late in Switzerland as I lived ther for 3 years.But here in sweden they are open all year long except in August.

These drills should help a little with agility and balance. You could watch our learn to skate series and grab a few on ice drills and use them on roller blades. Anything where you can change directions will help, try spinning, turning, changing directions, etc.

3rd con is spot on. I grew up playing roller hockey and recently transitioned to ice. I thought I was playing well until a friend recorded one of my games. My strides are awful. I take too many quick, short strides instead of long full ones.

LOL, great find of the Russian Rocket card! He was my favorite player at the time too. Cheesy as it may be, the card also shows why Pavel was so good. Look at those tree trunk thighs and calves. It almost looks like someone photoshopped that skinny upper body on top of massive lower body.

I recently purchased some new roller blades with the hi-lo chassis thinking it would transfer better to my on ice skating. Unfortunately it just doesn’t provide that similar of an experience and I find that for the first few minutes back on the ice I feel sloppy and clumsy. I thought about get a rocker setup where my front and back wheel are smaller than the middle two wheels to better simulate the rocker on my ice skates, but the hi-lo chassis doesn’t have enough room to do that without buying smaller wheels all around. Any thoughts on the transition from road to ice? What setup do you have? I really want to be able to get the extra exercise and time on skates, but I don’t want to hinder my on ice performance as a result…

Hey Mike, I haven’t tried these myself, but I’ve read a lot of people say this is the closest you can get to ice on wheels: http://www.sprunghockey.com/ I would give them a shot if I skated on ice more, but I’m strictly an inline hockey player for now (don’t live close enough to an ice rink to give it a shot though I would love to if I could). The surface you skate on probably matters quite a bit too.

Hey Chris, if you haven’t purchased a pair of blades yet, I recently bought a pair of Bauer xr2 vapors and like them. I have been playing hockey on em for a couple months now and they seem to do well. The only thing I would suggest changing are the insoles. They are lacking in support, but the rest of the skate is great, so far. I have also put a bit stickier wheel on them, as I am typically on a rink, and the surface is pretty slick. Good luck!

It all depends on the person buying them. I don’t recommend getting the cheapest pairs, get at least something that is decent quality, or even a good quality used pair. Just make sure they fit you properly and are comfortable